Todd and Amy always felt called to adoption. Even though they already had children of their own, they knew they had room in their hearts for more. After moving to Oklahoma in October 2014, they decided to start pursuing adoption.
All of the paperwork and preparation that had to be done beforehand was exhausting, but they knew it would be worth it once they held their new son or daughter in their arms.
On November 25, 2015, as the family was packing up for a Thanksgiving trip to the lake, they got a call from their adoption agency asking them to come in and sign some papers. The couple asked if they could do it after their trip, but the agency was adamant they come in as soon as possible.
Amy left Todd to finish packing and was headed out the door when Todd happened to mention a news report he had just seen. A baby boy had been dropped off at a local urgent care with his umbilical cord still attached. His mother had told the medical staff that she was homeless and unable to care for the baby.
"˜That is the saddest thing ever," Amy said. "Do you think that is our baby?"
"I doubt it," Todd replied. "He's probably pretty sick."
With that, Amy headed out to the adoption agency, the thought of this helpless, abandoned baby still on the forefront of her mind.
When she got to the agency, Amy could tell that everyone had been crying. When they saw her, they asked where Todd was.
Concerned, Amy asked if something had gone wrong with their paperwork, and that's when they handed her a piece of paper with a familiar headline:
"Woman Leaves Newborn At Tulsa Clinic"
"Oh my gosh," Amy said, "˜Todd just told me about this little one."
"You don't have more paperwork to sign," the agency workers told her. "He's waiting for you in the NICU. He's yours."
Amy couldn't believe it. This precious little one who had already captured her heart was going to be their son!
"There are no words to describe all the emotions I felt at that moment," she said. "They explained they wanted both of us there to tell us at the same time that us being a match with W was nothing short of God. That's why they had been emotional and crying "” they had just witnessed God. Even now this brings goosebumps and tears. It blows our mind that God chose us to be his parents."
Amy raced back home, sat her family down, and handed Todd the article.
"This is the story I was telling you about," he said when he had read it.
That's when Amy got to give him the incredible news.
"He is ours," she said. "He's waiting for us!"
Instead of heading to the lake, the family went to the store and bought a stuffed elephant and a gray blanket. Then they hurried to the hospital to meet the newest member of their family.
From the moment they laid eyes on the little baby boy, they knew he was theirs.
"He was so perfect!" Amy said. "He wasn't the healthiest of babies, but he sure was holding his own for what he had been through. His name tag read Baby Boy Unknown, which broke our hearts, but it didn't stay that way long. The big kids got a pad of sticky notes from the nurses' station and had his NICU area decorated with his name and cute drawings in no time."
Little W (the family doesn't want to share his full name) spent the next week in the NICU being monitored. His new family stayed with him as much as they could. Soon, they got to bring him home!
While the adoption process wasn't complete and there would still be more paperwork to fill out and hoops to jump through, Todd and Amy were prepared to tackle whatever was ahead.
Almost exactly one year later, the family held a big celebration.
"The next Thanksgiving was one for the records," Amy said. "W was officially ours on Nov. 11, 2016, and the next day our tribe celebrated Thanksgiving as well as W turning the "˜Wild One!'
"W is a one of a kind," she continued. "He is the healthiest, happiest, most full of life 2-year-old. He has brought so much fun and joy to our family.
"God moved some mighty big mountains to align our paths. It has been a huge reminder that God's plan is better than we could ever imagine.
"We want all the people who prayed for him to know that their prayers were answered before they were spoken. God has big plans for our little tornado and we are grateful to be along for the ride!"
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The post Baby Abandoned With Umbilical Cord Still Attached. Mom Sees Headline, Knows He's Theirs appeared first on Good Inside Us.
